Some time ago I purchased The Breadbaker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. I've made various recipes from the book, all of which I've enjoyed.

There is a problem, however. The recipes in the section on sourdough breads seem disorganized and difficult to follow - and now I know why! The book is misprinted! My copy of the book seems normal up to page 228. Then, instead of pages 229-244, my book simply repeats pages 213-228 again. Fifteen pages are missing entirely.

I bought this long enough ago that I have no idea where I bought it - Amazon looked it up for me and there was no record of my purchasing the book.

I left a message with the publisher, Ten Speed Press. We'll see if they are able to help. Since I didn't buy it from them directly, I have no idea what their response will be. They list the book as being out of stock, not out of print.

Other than this printing flaw, it is a great book. The author, Peter Reinhart, is teaching a class in my town next month. I'd hoped to get him to sign it, but I'd hate to ask him to sign the book with missing pages.

msue, i have this book and will check to see if my copy contains the same problems that yours has. if it does not (i haven't noticed anything missing), i'd be happy to copy the screwed up pages for you. can't promise it will be tomorrow (my life is complicated the next few days...), but i would certainly get to it in the near future. let me know how you'd like to solve this problem and we can discuss this further privately.

and peter reinhart is the nicest man you'll ever meet (i did several years ago when he taught a bread making class for the program in which i was working in berkeley). don't hesitate to ask him to sign your book.

Georgia, that is so kind! I may take you up on your generous offer if I can't resolve this with the publisher. I'd like to exchange my book for a correct copy if possible; it is just an error that happens sometimes. I wish I'd figured it out before now, maybe when I still remembered where I bought it!

There is no doubt that Peter Reinhart is a kind man. I've read several of his books and his thoughtful spirit shines through each page. Hopefully I'll be able to get into his class when he comes here.

Thanks again for the very thoughtful offer - I'll let you know via pm how it works out.

Joined: 29 Sep 2004Posts: 1196Location: buried under a pile of books somewhere in Adelaide, South Australia

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:28 am Post subject:

msue, get him to sign the book, definitely. I love signed books - there's something so much more personal about a book that has been signed by the author. He may be able to help in the hunt for a complete copy, too._________________Doing what you like is freedom
Liking what you do is happiness

Joined: 29 Sep 2004Posts: 1196Location: buried under a pile of books somewhere in Adelaide, South Australia

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 6:40 pm Post subject:

It's an interesting one, isn't it David.

With some kids' books I sell I used to describe them as 'unpaginated', which made perfect sense to me, but I got so many questions asking what it meant, I gave up using it. Now I just state 'no page numbers', which doesn't sound nearly as interesting._________________Doing what you like is freedom
Liking what you do is happiness

Speaking of prose, how do you like the way this counting rhyme rolls off the tongue? It's from The Nickle Nackle Tree by NZ author/illustrator, Lynley Dodd.

In the Manglemunching Forest there's a Nickle Nackle Tree,
Growing Nickle Nackle berries that are red as red can be.
I went to look last Monday; I was too surprised for words
- On every twisty branch there was a jumbly jam of birds.

One Ballyhoo bird, kicking up a din,
Two squawking Scritchet birds with legs so twiggy thin .....

And the whole book rollicks along like that (is "rollick" a word? I couldn't think of a way to write the sentence to include "rollicking" )_________________Doing what you like is freedom
Liking what you do is happiness

What fun to read aloud, Judy--makes me want to rollick and frolic!
I used to babysit for a little girl who liked to hear "The Walrus and the Carpenter" over and over and over--for the cadence, I'm sure, not the story.

Mmmm, pagination...mmmm! Judy, I love Manglemunching, what you do with thick crusty bread or pizza crust! And Jumble jam of birds is perfection itself.

I like the Ballyhoo bird and the two Scritchets too!! I can see a Scritchet bird in my mind striding long and skinny-legged through long grass - possibly looking for Scritchety grubs. Spike Milligan's verse for children is a lot like that. And of course Edward Lear.

I like Folio, Quarto, Centavo who would be my version of the Italian musketeers! And I am sure that Signor Quarto had a horse called Buckram._________________Confusion comes fitted as standard.